COLLEGE BASKETBALL: Homecoming for Larranaga as Miami faces Marquette

Miami head coach Jim Larranaga reacts during the first half of a third-round game of the NCAA college basketball tournament against the Illinois Sunday, March 24, 2013, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

WASHINGTON — Jim Larranaga smiled and raised both hands to acknowledge the fans in green — those from both Miami and George Mason — as he walked onto the court where he become part of a national sensation seven years ago.

He signed autographs, posed for pictures and was about to turn his attention to practice when he spotted two special people: Lamar Butler and Tony Skinn, starters from the 2006 GMU team. Larranaga hugged them both and reminisced about “you guys running over to our section” of fans at the final whistle to celebrate the win over Connecticut that sent the mid-major Patriots to the Final Four.

“This is not just any other arena,” the coach said.

No, it’s not. This is the Verizon Center, where Larranaga convinced his players that the CAA on their jerseys stood for “Connecticut Assassin Association” instead of the Colonial Athletic Association. It’s where it became believable again that an out-of-the-blue school could advance to college basketball’s biggest stage, paving the way for similar runs by Virginia Commonwealth and Butler.

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And, on Wednesday, it’s where Larranaga gathered his players in a circle at midcourt after warmups and told them: “You know why they call it the Sweet 16? It’s sweet! Let’s go.”

Yep, still the same ol’ Larranaga.

“To them I’m kind of wacky, you know?” he said. “I say a lot of things to them and initially they don’t understand. I use quotes and our thought of the day. I ask them to explain it, they have no idea, and I have to then educate them of what we’re trying to get across. Coming into this building, to them it’s just another venue, but to me and my staff, it’s not.”

He’s now in a different league now, leading Atlantic Coast Conference champion and second-seeded Miami (29-6) against third-seeded Marquette (25-8) in Thursday’s East Regional semifinals, but no one else goes viral quite like this: Larranaga’s version of the Ali Shuffle, meant to demonstrate the Hurricanes’ fighting mentality, became an Internet must-see after he performed it for his players following Sunday night’s win over Illinois.

“His approach to the game is different,” senior forward Julian Gamble said. “It’s very different to the coaching staff that we had previous to him arriving, but his charisma and the energy he brought, we knew it was going to be a really good thing for us, and it was easy for us to buy into that.”

Meanwhile, Marquette coach Buzz Williams’ arrival in the nation’s capital was no match for his counterpart’s homecoming, even though the Golden Eagles have been on a compelling run of their own.

Marquette won its first two games by a combined three points, both with wipe-your-brow late comebacks. Williams’ wife had an appendectomy just before the start of the tournament. He was speaking his mind as usual Wednesday, saying that the opening statement at NCAA news conferences is “a waste of time” and telling a reporter who asked a repeat question to get the answer “off this lady here transcribing it” on the stenography machine.

But this was Larranaga’s day.

“I have great respect for coach Jim Larranaga,” Williams said. “I think he’s pure in how he goes about things. I think he’s a guy that someone at this point in my career can look up to, because I think he does it for the right reasons.”

Williams leaves a manic impression when the clock is running, and Georgetown fans at the Verizon Center often chant “Off the court!” during Big East games because he strays so far from the bench. On Wednesday, he was relaxed and calm as he watched sons Calvin and Mason and daughter Zera mingle with his players during an easygoing practice.

“If you only see me on game day, probably what you think of me is — I wouldn’t say diametrically opposed — but it’s distinctly different,” he said.

Which also makes him distinctly different from Larranaga, who is pretty much the same wherever he goes. Even when he’s making a return trip to the scene of his greatest triumph.

“We have seen the highlights of it. It was a great run, it was magical,” Miami guard Shane Larkin said. “Hopefully he still has some left in him. Not saying that we need luck, but hopefully he still has a winning touch, and it’s going to be fun playing out here in this arena.”

Syracuse set for Indiana

Yelps of support and echoing applause greeted the voice booming over the loudspeakers Wednesday at the scheduled start of practice for the East Regional’s fourth seed: “Coached by Jim Boeheim, please welcome the Syracuse Orange!”

And ... nothing. No sign of Boeheim or any of his players. Not until 6 1/2 minutes later did they finally make their way onto the court they’ll return to Thursday night to face No. 1 seed Indiana in the NCAA tournament’s round of 16.

Syracuse never really did show up the last time it played a game at this arena: The Orange lost their Big East regular-season finale three weeks ago against host Georgetown 61-39, their fewest points since December 1962 and fourth loss in five games.

Maybe so. But since that disappointing performance, Syracuse (28-9) has gone on a run, winning five of its last six games to reach the Big East tournament final and join Indiana (29-6), No. 2 Miami and No. 3 Marquette to form the only group of 1-4 seeds left in any NCAA region this year.

It’s only the 15th time since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985 — and first since 2009 — that the four highest seeded teams advanced to the regional semifinals, according to STATS LLC.

“That probably is a little surprising,” Indiana freshman guard Yogi Ferrell said. “It shows that we are all high-level programs, and all great teams, and we know how to win.”

No Florida Gulf Coasts in this crowd, that’s for sure. This is a collection of college basketball’s big boys, with two teams from the Big East, and one each from the Big Ten and Atlantic Coast Conference. Three of the four have won the national title at least once, including Syracuse in 2003.

That championship, Boeheim said, allowed him to finally move past his team’s loss to Indiana in the 1987 final — aka “The Keith Smart Game” — the last time these two schools met in men’s basketball.

“When you lose a game like that, you really almost never get over it,” Boeheim said. “I got over it in 2003. I probably thought about it for those (16) years, most of the time. I never think about it anymore.”

Syracuse will confront Indiana on Thursday with its 2-3 zone, typically tough for teams that aren’t used to seeing that sort of system.

As Indiana coach Tom Crean put it: “The challenge never ceases.”

“No one plays a 2-3 zone the whole 40 minutes. We’ve never seen that before,” said Ferrell, whose 146 assists (a 4.2 average) are the second-most in history by an Indiana freshman, trailing only Isiah Thomas’ 159 in 1979-80.

“You may think that a pass is there, and it’s not there the next second. You may throw it and get a turnover,” Ferrell said. “Visually it’s going to be very tough to find those openings, but if we move well, we’ll be OK.”

Indiana — which got a visit Thursday from Crean’s brother-in-law, Super Bowl champion coach John Harbaugh of the up-the-road Baltimore Ravens — was ranked No. 1 in The Associated Press preseason poll and spent more weeks at the top spot than anyone else in 2012-13.

The Hoosiers were led in scoring (16.7) and rebounding (8.0) by sophomore forward Cody Zeller. It’s junior guard Victor Oladipo, however, who is the contender for national player of the year honors.

Oladipo averaged 13.6 points and 6.4 rebounds this season, was the Big Ten’s defensive player of the year and hit a 3-pointer with 14 seconds left to lift Indiana past Temple last weekend.

Oladipo knows this week’s NCAA regional site well, having played at the arena while in high school at D.C.-area power DeMatha.

“I’m going to have a lot of family and friends here, but at the same time, it’s a business trip. We’re here to be successful,” he said.

“Yeah, I won (on this court) in the past,” Oladipo added. “But that has nothing to do with the future and the present.”

Boeheim probably feels the same way — about Thursday’s site and opponent.

Arizona to face Ohio State

Ever since Thad Matta and Sean Miller shared a tiny office at Miami of Ohio nearly two decades ago, the coaches’ friendship has survived job changes, practical jokes and a few hundred bucks in unpaid lunch tabs.

They’ve worked together and recruited against each other. They’ve shared scouting tips and sought job advice. They even briefly lived under the same roof with their entire families.

“I wouldn’t be here today without him,” Miller said Wednesday. “I learned a lot from him, enjoyed being around him when we worked together, and we remain very good friends.”

They remained close after their teams faced off in a memorable Ohio State victory over Xavier in the NCAA tournament six years ago, and they’re still close heading into their next meeting Thursday at Staples Center, when the second-seeded Buckeyes (28-7) meet Miller’s Arizona Wildcats (27-7) in the West Region semifinals.

“I don’t like the fact that we’re playing, but I’m happy as can be for him,” Matta said.

The winner gets much more than bragging rights between best friends: While nobody in either uniform would suggest this game is the true regional final, both teams realize the winner of this meeting between powerhouse basketball schools will be a strong favorite to make the Final Four. With underdogs La Salle and Wichita State playing the late game, Ohio State and Arizona are the only seeds in the top eight left in what looks like the least attractive regional.

“We’re not caught up in the sexiness and all that,” Arizona guard Mark Lyons said. “I feel like my teammates are handsome, but that’s (beside) the point.”

Both teams have a mix of veteran talent and emerging youngsters, leading to a few marquee positional matchups that are tough for both coaches to predict.

Ohio State hero Aaron Craft faces a stiff challenge against Lyons, the ball-hawking guard described by Miller as the hoops equivalent of a running quarterback. Deshaun Thomas, the Buckeyes’ leading scorer, will be checked on most possessions by Solomon Hill, the Wildcats’ rangy senior from Los Angeles.

Ohio State is the only team to make the regional semifinals in each of the last four seasons, and the Buckeyes are on a 10-game winning streak since mid-February. Arizona overcame its late-season struggles to put together yet another solid NCAA run, trouncing Belmont and unceremoniously ending Harvard’s hopes last week while making better than 55 percent of their shots in both games.

“It always gets tougher the further you go in the tournament,” said Craft, whose late 3-pointer propelled Ohio State past Iowa State last Sunday. “You play against great players, and as a defender, you always want to take away their go-to. They have more than one.”

Arizona should have a home-court advantage as the regional’s closest school to Los Angeles by far, with thousands of Wildcats fans expected to make the trip to cheer on a team with seven players from Southern California. The Wildcats had a huge advantage two years ago in the West Region final in Anaheim, although UConn still advanced on the way to the national title.

Arizona and Ohio State have never met in the NCAA tournament, but Matta and Miller faced off in the second round in 2007, three years after Matta took over the Buckeyes and left Miller in charge at Xavier. Mike Conley Jr. and Greg Oden led Ohio State past the Musketeers after Ron Lewis’ clutch 3-pointer forced overtime, and the Buckeyes eventually reached the national championship game.

Neither coach enjoyed facing a good friend that year, and their collision this week isn’t as fun as the chance to reconnect in person for the first time in months.

The coaches know plenty about each other’s strategies, and they also know their quirks. Miller realizes Matta doesn’t enjoy being too far from his own bed, remembering long recruiting trips together when “it could be 10 o’clock at night, and he would give you that look like, `Why don’t we just get home?”’

“I guess if there’s one small advantage we have, we have him in a place that he’s not real familiar with, a long way from home,” Miller added.

They helped engineer an NCAA tournament upset of Arizona while they were on staff together at Miami of Ohio — although Miller left Matta stuck with about $350 in lunches when he left for Pitt in 1995. The coaches worked together splendidly again at Xavier — and Miller even lived with Matta briefly after getting the job in Cincinnati in 2001, bringing along his pregnant wife and their kids.

“If it was a couple of weeks, it probably felt like a couple months to Thad and his wife,” Miller said.

Matta needed only one word to describe Miller as a roommate: “Sloppy.”

“The thing about Sean that I’ve learned over time is whenever we’d go somewhere, he’d forget his wallet,” Matta continued, recalling a trip to South Florida when Miller showed up at the airport with no cash. “And he was making a lot more money than I was. But that’s him.”

Miller and Matta had an extra-long conversation between their teams’ practices Wednesday, discussing the possibility of Miller’s son, Austin, heading to Ohio State to work for Matta as a team manager in a couple of years. They’re full of mutual respect, with Miller suggesting Matta is well on his way to a Hall of Fame career — even if that journey goes through Miller’s Wildcats this week.

“When you do this long enough, your paths are going to cross,” Matta said. “I’m sure he feels the same way: I want to win like crazy, but if things don’t go well, I couldn’t be happier for him.”